Hookup Rumor du Jour: Scarlett Smitten With British Rocker?

Wonderwall, Monday, December 19, 2011, 7:41am (PST)

By Kat Giantis

• Is it a budding romance or bid for publicity from an up-and-coming British band?

  The London Sunday Mirror claims Scarlett Johansson has started dating guitarist Dan White of the group Tribes, who just happen to be releasing their debut album next month.

  A chatty snitch tells the tab that the pair were introduced at a London club while the actress was recently in the U.K. filming the thriller "Under the Skin."

  "They got on like a house on fire," asserts the source. "There was an instant connection. They've been seeing each other for a good few weeks. Dan's proper happy about it, and what guy wouldn't be? He already thinks the world of Scarlett."

  One red flag: The paper mentions that White's nickname is Skywizard, which puts him in the same moniker-challenged company as Kate Winslet's latest squeeze, Ned Rocknroll.

  Conveniently, the insider plays up White's rising-star status while remaining noncommittal about his future with Johansson, despite declaring them "smitten."

  "Dan thinks she's an amazing girl," explains the spy. "They both have incredibly busy lives but are going to see where things go. Dan's band, Tribes, is only just taking off, and Scarlett has a lot of work on. So who knows?"

  Apparently, Scarlett's rep does. When contacted for comment, he assured us that the hookup chatter is a load of hooey.

  "There is no truth to this," her spokesman tells Wonderwall. "She has never met him and doesn't even know who he is, nor has [she] ever heard of his band. This is a TOTAL FABRICATION."

  Since calling it quits with Sean Penn in early June, Johansson 27, has been linked to everyone from Kieran Culkin to Joseph Gordon-Levitt, although she suggests rumors about her love life should be taken with a big ol' boulder of salt.

  "One of the best things I learned this year was to not read any tabloid, gossipy, you know, garbage," the former Mrs. Ryan Reynolds told USA Today last week, adding of the rampant romance rumors, "I'm like, 'What? Really? When did that come out?' It's just nice to have kind of a blinder up in that regard. It helps keep you sane. I can't follow all that stuff. It's too exhausting."

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